What it's like to be grilled by the Secret Service

CSO's Bill Brenner learned the hard way that there are certain things you shouldn't do in Washington D.C. Here's his account of a run-in with Secret Service.

By Bill Brenner, Senior Editor

August 09, 2010 — CSO —

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Those who know me are well aware that I'm a history buff, especially when it comes to White House and presidential history. I've even gotten the private tour of the West Wing, seeing the Oval Office and Rose Garden, among other things.

What it's like to...

I never expected that passion to get me in trouble. Until today.

I'm in the nation's capital this week to attend the Metricon 5 conference and USENIX Security Symposium, and to meet with various people from the information security industry in between.

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This morning I had about three hours of free time. Having spent 14 hours driving here the day before, I decided a break was in order. So I did what I always do: I went to the White House. Usually I take a lot of pictures of the building, though this time I didn't have my camera. Just the not-so-good camera in my BlackBerry.

I like to walk around in front of the north and south sides of the White House, just staring and thinking about all the people who served here and the history that unfolded within those walls. Sometimes I linger for awhile. Anyone with a passion for history will understand this.

I went to the White House Visitor's Center and bought a couple books and did the same at the White House Historical Association and Decatur House, the latter two being next door to each other off of Lafayette Park across from the White House. In between, I hung out on the south side of the White House because Marine One was landing and taking off and, well, that's something you don't get to see every day. I took a couple pictures on my crappy BlackBerry phone and sent them to my Facebook page.

When I was done, I headed to the Metro stop at Farragut North to catch the train back to the hotel, stopping in Starbucks first.

At the bottom of the escalator a uniformed Secret Service officer from the bicycle patrol unit grabbed me by the arm (or tapped me -- I can't remember which). He asked me to come with him back up the escalator. When we got to the top and walked several feet from the metro stop, he began asking me some pointed questions.

"Where have you been today?" he asked with a scowl. I told him where I'd been.